Beautiful
by Purple Flower 82
Summary: Ino has finally taken her insults toward Choji too far, so Shikamaru follows his friend to reassure him that that he's perfect just the way he is. Pairing is ShikamaruxChoji


**A/N: Just a quick warning in case it was missed being read in the summary...This is indeed a story that includes the romantic pairing of ShikamaruxChoji, so if that bothers you, I would suggest skipping this one. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story, and don't be afraid to drop me a review if you enjoyed it (or not...I don't mind a bit of criticism). Happy reading!**

"Choji!" Ino screeched. "I was going to _eat _that! What is the point of your insane obsession with _always_ getting the last bit of food?"

Ino was attracting stares from all over the restaurant. Asuma was trying to shush her in the most inconspicuous way possible, while Shikamaru was simply watching her in a bored manner. Choji wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, happily munching on the last bite of barbecued pork. Sakura, who was walking past the restaurant, smirked to herself when she heard the unmistakable sound of her rival's screams. Ino-pig was probably making a _huge_ fool of herself in there.

"Stop it, Asuma-sensei!" Ino cried indignantly. "Choji needs to hear this!"

_Oh jeez, she's really been set off now,_ Shikamaru thought to himself with a sigh and roll of his eyes. _Well, as long as she doesn't call poor Choji fat, we'll be okay._

"Choji! You always eat _so damn much!_"Ino ranted. "Do you see me? I'm on a diet right now. And do you know _why_, Akimichi Choji? Because boys only like skinny girls!"

"… But I'm not a girl …" Choji answered, trying to hold back a grin. Shikamaru smirked behind his hand. Letting out an explosive sigh, Ino went on to explain.

"No, you may not be a girl, but the opinion goes both ways," she said condescendingly. "Boys only like skinny girls, and _girls_ only like skinny _boys."_

Choji just looked at her. He was so very tired of this discussion. Ino brought it up nearly every time they went out for barbecue just because he liked eating the last piece.

"Ino, that's quite enough!" Asuma interrupted, trying to repair his team at least a little bit before they had to go out on their next mission.

"It's okay, Asuma-sensei. I'm just going to go now," Choji muttered, rising from the booth.

"Choji!" Shikamaru called, but he was ignored.

Shuffling out of the shop, Choji kept his head down and his arms crossed tightly across his ample chest.

"Ino! Why do you have to go and do that to him? Just because _you_ don't agree with eating so much doesn't mean you have to make _him _stop doing what he loves! And you know that he needs to eat all that in order to keep his chakra up to use his family's techniques! Why is that so difficult for you to understand?"

Smiling evilly, Ino narrowed her eyes before leaning over the table and waving at Shikamaru to do the same. "I told Choji that _girls_ don't like fat boys. I never said anything about other _boys."_

Shooting backward, eyes wide, Shikamaru cursed himself for not predicting Ino would say that. She was certainly much more clever than she appeared. Looking to Asuma for help, he saw that his sensei was sitting there, choking back a laugh, with a certain twinkle in his eye.

"Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru whined.

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Asuma managed to choke out, still holding back manly giggles.

Giving one last glare to Ino, Shikamaru finished with, "Why must you make everything so troublesome!" before making a dramatic exit from the restaurant.

However, Ino's parting remark of, "I'm not making it troublesome! I'm making it _easy!_" rang in Shikamaru's ears long after he left the building.

Shikamaru was muttering to himself as he climbed to his favorite resting spot. He was marginally sure that Choji would be there waiting for him, a bag of barbecue-flavored chips in hand. Sure enough, there was Choji, though his bag of chips lay unopened next to him, and he was on his back, watching the clouds.

"Hello, Shikamaru," he greeted in a monotone.

"Choji," Shikamaru acknowledged, sitting beside his friend, head upturned to stare at the sky.

Fifteen minutes of comfortable silence passed before Shikamaru decided it was time to speak.

"Ino's wrong, you know. I'm sure there are plenty of nice girls out there who like big-boned men," Shikamaru murmured, lowering himself onto his back and turning his head to the side so he was facing his friend directly.

"Really, Shikamaru? Is that _really_ true? Because all the girls _I _know like strong, skinny boys."

"… You're very strong. You know that."

Ignoring this, Choji went on. "Sakura and Ino like Sasuke, Hinata likes Naruto, Tenten likes Neji, Kurenai-sensei likes Asuma-sensei … Don't you see? Ino's right. Ino is _always_ right."

Choji didn't even sound sad or angry; he only sounded resigned. This, above everything else, caused Shikamaru's next statement to fall into much scarier territory.

"Those girls are idiots, then. And honestly, I don't think they like those boys because they're thin and strong. They like those boys because they're nice and brave and have fun personalities. At least, they do around those girls. Though maybe Ino and Sakura _are_ just that dumb, because I'm not sure Sasuke even has a personality … But anyway, only a shallow girl would like a boy because of how he looks. Besides … girls are troublesome. Do you really want to deal with one for the rest of your life?" Choji grinned at this remark, though his eyes were still sad, and he was refusing to turn his head to look at Shikamaru.

"You're right, you know. Girls are troublesome, and I don't want to deal with one ever," he admitted. "But Ino said the concept of eating so much being unattractive applies both ways."

Shikamaru's mouth had fallen open. Had he been hearing things, or had Choji seriously just admitted he'd rather have a relationship with a boy than a girl? Deciding to take the biggest chance of his life, Shikamaru rolled so that he was laying on his stomach on top of Choji, hands on either side of Choji's shocked face.

"Please believe me when I say, Choji, you are beautiful in every single way. Please stop letting Ino's mean words bring you down all the time. I see you as you are: a strong, handsome, sweet, friendly, amazing ninja and an even better friend. If Ino's too dense to see that, then that's her loss."

"Shikamaru …" Choji breathed, eyes wide.

And that was it. Shikamaru couldn't hold back any longer. He leaned down and kissed Choji with all his might. Hands tangled in hair and Shikamaru was tugged all the closer to Choji so that they were pressed together, chest to chest. When they broke apart, they did nothing but smile lovingly at each other, Shikamaru's fingers still carding through Choji's hair while Choji's hand lightly caressed Shikamaru's cheek.

Shikamaru rolled off of Choji's belly so that they were, once again, laying side by side on their backs. The only difference this time was the minimal space between their bodies, and the fact that Shikamaru's delicate hand was tightly clutched in Choji's monstrous one.

From the stairway up to Shikamaru's cloud-watching spot, Ino and Asuma smiled broadly at each other before turning to leave the new couple some privacy. Asuma never would've guessed it after first hearing his female student's plan, but maybe Ino was more of a genius than even Shikamaru at times. At least, she was when it came to matters of the heart.


End file.
